Andrea smirked and shoved her hands into the pockets of her black skinny jeans. “Your love for Levile is commendable. It is no surprise you are willing to protect his family. I guess Master Hans chose well in selecting a bodyguard.”
Levile? Hans’ blood-brother? How was Lotte related to Master Vincent’s second childe? Too many questions were popping up at the back of Perri’s mind. She smiled at Andrea and took hold of Lotte’s hand. “We should be off.”
Andrea didn’t say anything else and went on ahead to her destination. Lotte, on the other hand, stared at Perri’s hand.
“Miss Perri, your pulse has spiked. Are you unwell anywhere?”
Perri retracted her hand and scratched the back of her head, saying, “I’m fine. We must find Hans. I am worried about him.”
“Of course.”
They arrived at Hans’ office five minutes later. Perri knocked on the door, but no response came. She frowned as did Lotte who then mumbled an ‘excuse me’ and entered the room.
Behind his desk, Hans was groaning and massaging his chest.
They ran to his side, and Lotte pushed him to sit upright in his office chair. “Master Hans, what’s wrong?”
Sweat beaded on his brow. He sucked in breath after breath as if he had a fever. Perri moved to the other side of him and undid the buttons of his shirt. He didn’t fight her. He seemed too weak to do so.
When she saw the black veins on his chest spanning from his gauze, she gasped. “What is this?”
“Looks like silver poisoning,” Lotte replied quickly. “He needs fresh blood.”
Perri shook off the brief shock that paralysed her. “He can take my blood. I don’t mind.”
Hans opened his eyes and studied her face with a pained expression. “There is no need for you to do that.” He directed the next order at Lotte. “Bring me fresh blood bags from storage. I believe the ones in my room were sabotaged.”
“Right away, sir.” Lotte disappeared from the room using her vampire speed.
Perri’s eyes watered. “Why won’t you let me help?”
“In the state that I am in, I won’t be able to take the pain of the bite away. And I am not sure if I could stop myself in time…”
She cupped his cheeks and kissed him on the lips. “You’re a silly man. It won’t hurt. I’ll be fine.” She moved her neck closer to his face. “Take my blood, I beg you.”
He groaned and sluggishly snaked his arms around her waist before seating her on his lap. Hans murmured an apology. He kissed her neck. His harsh breathing was causing her worry to climb. A second later, she felt a sharp pain of his fangs sinking into her sensitive skin. It was like having two knives driven into her at once.
She winced and stroked his hair with a tender touch. “Take as much as you need.”
He took mouthful after mouthful from her. Seconds ticked by and she was growing lightheaded. Her vision started to swim and her ears were ringing. By the time she realised that she was pulled away from him by Lotte, the world was a blur and her limbs weighed a tonne.
“Sir, drink this,” Lotte handed him two blood bags. “They were delivered today and should be safe to drink. I have sampled each one just in case.”
Hans’ eyes were glowing with a bright green flame. It was fascinating, seeing him so hungry and unrestricted. But, Perri couldn’t stay awake much longer. She closed her heavy eyelids and her conscience drifted away.
HANS
Hans was furious that he couldn’t stop when he should have. His thirst had overridden his control and kept him clinging to Perri’s vein. He was thankful to Lotte who ripped her away from him in time. Another minute and his woman would no longer be among the living, and he would have no one else to blame but himself.
He finished the blood in the blood bags. The terrible pains in his chest were still present. It was hard for him to move, and strange weakness had set into his limbs.
Lotte lowered Perri onto a settee by the window. The windows in the Council building were designed with vampires in mind, shielding them from the effect of the sun rays.
“Lock the door to my office. No one must find out about my condition,” Hans ordered Lotte.
The hound immediately obeyed and locked the door. She then smeared some of her blood on Perri’s neck to stop the bleeding from his bite. “She will be fine with plenty of rest, Master Hans. Do not worry.”
“It’s my fault. I should not have been so careless.” He internally chastised himself for being so weak. The power he possessed was not nearly enough for what he needed to be on the Council, not to mention to protect Perri from the terrible fate that awaited her if he made another mistake. There had to be a way for him to get stronger, and he needed to find it soon.
Lotte folded her arms behind her back and stood by his desk. “Earlier, we overheard two hounds talking about the attack on you and Master Lucious. It appears that the reason we lost contact with him and Miss Hawthorn was because of this faction’s meddling. They are undoubtedly trying to destabilise Europe and gain control of it, sir.”
“Could you identify the hounds?” Hans asked, letting the back of his seat support his head.
“Yes. I believe they were the hounds who came from Hungary a few months after Mistress Anna took a seat on the Council. They are Vidor and Nusa.”
Hans placed his elbows on his desk with an audible grunt and rested his chin on his clasped hands. “The delegates from Hungary never came to the initiation ceremony we were trying to conduct last month. Does this mean they are rebelling?”
“It would appear so. If they are cowardly enough to not challenge you directly and stoop to lowly assassination attempts such as this, it could only mean that their numbers are not great. Would you like me to apprehend and question them?”
“No. Keep a close watch on their movements and include them in tonight’s hunt. Also, send Grim and Christos immediately to Lucious’ side. We cannot allow him and Helena to be harmed.”
Lotte bowed her head. “Right away, sir.”
“And one more thing,” Hans said, his attention settling on Perri’s sleeping form on the settee. “Arrange for Perri to return to Scotland. It is too dangerous for her to remain by my side for the time being.”
The hound hesitated for a second. “Is that what you really want to do? I am more than capable to protect her on my—”
“Please do this for me.” After today’s events, he had no choice but to retire to his chambers and sleep for the rest of the day to recover some of his strength. “I cannot afford to have her suffer because of my inability to keep her out of harm’s way.”
“As you command, Master Hans. I will arrange for her transportation tonight while the others are on a hunt for the possessed.” She eyed him with interest. “You are going to skip the hunt to recover, correct?”
He shook his head. “Showing a weakness now would only give more openings to those who oppose me. I must go.”
“But you are not in your best shape. If you were attacked by the possessed vampire now, you would most likely die.”
Hans remained quiet. He couldn’t dispute her reasoning, yet he had no choice. It was better to weed out those who did not support him and Lucious early and to keep watch on their movements. If he could figure out who in Europe was conspiring against the Council, he would be able to take measures. For now, there was little he could do other than act normal and pretend that he and Perri were no longer together. That way, she would be safe. In the end, nothing else mattered more to him.
5
TRUST
PERRI
When Perri received news from Lotte that Hans had decided to send her back to Scotland, multiple emotions were tearing her heart apart. On one hand, she understood that she was of no help to him. And as Andrea had said earlier that day, she was a weakness that could be exploited. On the other hand, she knew that his decision was made to protect her. She trusted him with everything she had: her life, her body, and her soul. Without powers of her own or becoming
a vampire, she was of no use to anyone. The second option was out of the question, too. She heard from Lotte that once a person became a vampire, it took up to two years to adjust to the thirst. After taking the current events into consideration, she knew that it would burden Hans to turn her and keep watch over her.
She sat on her bed, staring blankly at her packed luggage by the door. Lotte was due to come by any minute now. Rubbing her stuffy chest, she sighed. Hans hadn’t come by to say goodbye.
Did he feel guilty for taking so much of my blood or is this his way of saying that we aren’t meant to be?
Knotting her fingers together, she whispered a prayer for his well-being during the hunt. It would hurt her more if he suffered another injury.
Someone knocked on the door and Lotte entered. She had her green hair tied into a high ponytail and wore black from head to toe. “It’s time for us to leave.”
Perri nodded and rose. Her vision blurred and turned dark as if someone had turned the lights off. So, she waited until her weakness faded.
Taking Perri’s luggage into her hand, Lotte smiled. “Don’t look so sad. Master Hans is doing this for your sake. It couldn’t have been an easy decision for him. He cares for you, anyone can see that.”
Perri returned her smile. “Thank you, Lotte.” She walked to the door and stopped as a question popped into her mind. “How are you related to Master Levile and Master Hans?”
“Levile was my sire.” She led Perri through the Council’s corridors, immersing herself in her words. “He was a beautiful, caring, and thoughtful person who gave me hope when I needed it most. He gave me a second chance at life when he could have easily walked away from me on that rainy day.”
“I have met him many times when he came to visit Master Vincent at the main house. He was always courteous and thoughtful.”
“Yes. Before I became a hound for the Council, like him, or even considered returning to a life where I had to listen to someone else’s orders, he showed me that serving under the right master would bring me joy. Working as an assassin was a dirty job where politics played a great role. Money ruled my life and greed consumed those around me. When I tried to get out, they cut me down and dumped me into a river.”
Perri stumbled over her feet, and Lotte caught her fall.
“You were an assassin?” Perri asked, her eyes rounding.
“Is that such a surprise?” Lotte laughed. “Don’t worry. I only follow Master Hans’ orders. He hasn’t given me an order to kill anyone without a good reason.”
“Is that why he assigned you to guard me?”
Lotte shrugged. “My skills may have played a part in that decision, and I guess he trusted me the most out of all the hounds here. It is an honour if you ask me.”
The rest of the way to the car, they spent in comfortable silence. It was good to know that Lotte was someone Hans trusted. It allowed Perri to open up to her. Until now, Helena had been her only close friend. If she could make more friends in the future, that would be great.
HANS
Considering the potent poison in his system, Hans was faring better than he had expected. The dull aches in his chest and joints had not gone away. His senses of hearing, smell, and sight had been affected, too. They were reduced to that of a mortal man.
Tonight, on the streets of Watford, with a team of four hounds at his disposal, he held his head high. Two of them, Vidor and Nusa, had to be the ones who had poisoned him. He checked their rotation schedule during the day, finding that they were the ones on the Council’s grounds for two days. They had more than enough time to inject silver into his blood bags.
He brought with him Andrea and Daniel as well. There was a high possibility that the Hungarian hounds would attempt to kill him during this hunt. He could not let his guard down. The only thing that kept his mind at ease was that he had received a text message from Lotte, stating that they were on their way to Scotland. Without the worry for Perri’s safety plaguing his every second thought, he could focus on the task at hand. In a way, he was glad that his partner was a woman who trusted in him and his decisions implicitly. He would need to make it up to her once this trouble was over.
“Listen well,” Hans began in an authoritative voice, gaining the attention of the four hounds. “Seven missing cases were reported in Watford in the past week. Lotte managed to pinpoint the nest to the cemetery’s grounds because the humans were last seen around it. There is a large country club near it, which means that there will be a lot of ground for us to cover. We must act with haste and take care of this problem. You may only use swords to fight and earpieces we received today for communication. Understood?”
“Yes, sir,” the hounds responded in unison.
Hans waited until everyone was ready and with their weapons in hand. He split the hounds into two pairs, putting Andrea with Vidor and Daniel with Nusa. That would make it harder for them to slip away from their assigned partner to come after him. And, he had mentioned to Andrea and Daniel to keep a close watch on them. Their lives were in danger as much as his.
Left alone, Hans walked around the main cemetery path with silent footsteps. The wind had picked up and drops of rain landed on his face. The tall trees around him shed colourful leaves onto the path ahead. In his weakened state, his senses were next to useless. Thinking about his situation, he knew that he was needlessly endangering himself for the sake of keeping up appearances. Master Vincent and Mistress Eliza often pretended like everything was fine even during the times when they were trying to deal with tough situations.
Hans came to a stop on a small stone bridge. He scanned the area around him, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. It reminded him a lot of the previous hunt where the possessed vampire waited patiently for him to peer over the edge of the platform.
Are they capable of plotting? They certainly are becoming harder to kill.
When he was about to continue on his path, he heard booted feet approaching him. He turned on the spot, holding his sword close to his leg. His eyes focused on Andrea who was panting and bleeding from her right arm.
“Where is Vidor?” Hans asked, getting closer to check her wound. It wasn’t serious from the first glance. But, there was more to it than that. Her clothes had traces of silver residue on them. Whoever hurt her had coated their weapon in an ointment mixed with silver.
“When we got to the woodland near the country club, Vidor started acting strange and fleeted away from my side. I went to search for him and someone attacked me from behind.”
“Was it Vidor?”
She shrugged. “I can’t be sure. This whole mission smells fishy to me. Aren’t the possessed typically more aggressive and less scheming?”
“Have you heard anything from Daniel?”
“I will contact him now.” She tapped on her earpiece. “This is Andrea, can anyone hear me?” With a sigh, she looked up at him. “No response. Master Hans, I suggest we retreat to the Council building.”
He combed his wet hair out of his eyes. “We should find the others first. If this is a trap to get rid of us, who could be behind it? I assumed that Vidor and Nusa were involved, which is why I assigned you and Daniel to be with them.”
“I don’t believe Vidor is involved. When he left, he had the look of terror on his face.” Andrea gripped her sword’s handle with a shaking hand. “I’d like to think that Vidor is not someone who would betray the Council and what it stands for so easily.”
Hans was left with a dilemma. If Andrea’s gut was correct, and Vidor and Nusa were not behind the plot to assassinate him, what on earth was going on? Lotte was sure about their involvement.
Daniel and Nusa fleeted to their side.
Holding his bleeding side, Daniel spoke through gritted teeth. “We have to leave this place. Our communication devices won’t work. Something is keeping us from using them.”
“What happened? How did you get injured?” Hans demanded, stealing a glance at Nusa. She seemed as shaken up as the others.
&
nbsp; “We were attacked but not by the possessed.” Nusa helped Daniel take a seat on the parapet. “They were fast, definitely vampires. We tried to reach you and got no response. That’s why we decided to make our way to you as quickly as possible.” She glanced at the others and frowned. “Where is Vidor?”
Andrea shrugged. “I don’t know. Someone contacted him through his earpiece and he left.”
“Nusa,” Hans began, growing annoyed at the situation they had found themselves in, “are you and Vidor responsible for putting silver in my blood bags?”
Nusa’s eyes bulged. She staggered backwards a step and immediately went down on her knee. “I would never plot against the Council, Master Hans.”
“Lotte and Perri have overheard you and Vidor talking today,” Hans countered.
She lifted her head to meet his stern gaze. “This afternoon, I—” Nusa’s frown deepened. “I can’t remember what happened.”
“What?” Andrea grabbed Nusa by the shoulder and shook her. “What kind of a lame excuse is that?”
“I am speaking the truth. I have no memories of that time. Someone must have erased them,” Nusa mumbled.
Hans covered his eyes with his hand. He was played for a fool. The person behind this plot wanted to weaken him and break the trust he had in his men.
A short distance away, a shuffling noise came from the bushes. An object rolled on the wet walking trail and bumped against Hans’ feet. When he realised that it was Vidor’s head, he cursed. “Come out, whoever you are!”
A group of three vampires emerged from the shadows of the treeline. Their attire was peculiar and dark. The two vampires on the sides were a step behind the evident leader. They did not even reveal their faces, keeping them hidden behind bird masks that resembled those the plague doctors used during the outbreak of Black Death.
The man in the middle bowed slightly. “Master Hans of the European Council, you are hereby challenged for your position.”
Cherished: A Perri & Hans Spin-off Novella (Helena Hawthorn Series Book 4.5) Page 4